SE CHRONICLE 684

69 ST EDWARD’S CHRONICLE

Squash By Simon Palferman, Head of Squash The legacy of the Covid era still loomed somewhat over the Spring Term of squash fixtures. A number of our scheduled matches needed to be cancelled, often because a visiting or hosting team needed to manage an outbreak of the virus. Nevertheless, we did manage to have a number of really meaningful and competitive fixtures, notably against Bradfield College, Stowe, Marlborough College, Radley, and Cheltenham Ladies’ College. Many of these matches were for mixed boys’ and girls’ teams, who won more than half of their combined games. And most fixtures provided opportunities for our juniors to get some real match experience.

This was the first term for many years in which Shells, Fourths and Fifths were routinely able to select squash as their main sport. Getting expert coaching from our specialist, Ross Gore, and applying their new skills in match situations against competitive opposition from other schools, will no doubt set up some of our young players for the future. When they arrive in Sixth Form, the depth of our pool of players and the high standards of their play will surely be really impressive. The Spring Term also saw the launch of the inaugural Inter-House Racquets Competition, in which all the Houses fielded teams in separate squash and badminton draws. Played over a series of weeks, the

parallel events attracted a great deal of colour and enthusiasm, and undoubtedly the legacy of this will be heightened interest in both sports. In the end, Cowell’s emerged as the winners of the boys’ event, and the girls of Cooper Lodge triumphed in their competition. As well as a fun and fitting finale to the Spring Term, we were left with a wonderful template for an annual racquets event. Finally it is a pleasure to report that Ross Gore was again part of the winning England team in the recent O40 2022 Masters Home International tournament, held in Ireland. He continues to be an inspiration to our pupils, and a major factor in the popularity and success of squash at Teddies.

Chimdi Okonkwo, Ali Albrand, Gathoni Nesbitt, Bianca Rizzini Bisinelli, Xan Lytle, Matthew Whittaker, Harry Trowbridge, William Newson, Noah Roussel, Rasmus Nesselhut and Faris Haider